Cutting deck lifting device and mower having cutting deck lifting device

ABSTRACT

A cutting deck lifting device for adjusting the height of the cutting deck of a mower includes a cutting deck having at least one cutting blade mounted thereto, a pedal assembly including a pedal switched between locking and unlocking states for adjusting the height of the cutting deck, a connecting assembly connecting the pedal assembly to the cutting deck and an adjusting assembly connected to the pedal assembly for positioning the cutting deck to a position with a desired height when the pedal is switched between locking and unlocking states. The cutting deck lifting device can conveniently and quickly adjust the cutting deck between the first position and the second position. Simultaneously, the cutting deck lifting device has a simple structure, a low manufacturing cost, and easy installation, and can be applied to a variety of garden tools.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED INVENTIONS

This invention is a US application which claims the priority of CNapplication Serial No. 201910874473.7, filed on Sep. 17, 2019, thedisclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a lifting device for lifting a cutting deck, inparticular to a lifting device being suitable for a mower.

BACKGROUND ART

The height of cutting deck is usually adjusted via a lifting device, theoperator needs to depress a height adjusting pedal by foot until theheight of the deck is adjusted by a hand. The inconvenient operationprocess easily causes the operator fatigue and affects the safety use ofthe cutting deck because the operator must simultaneously use hand andfoot to adjust the height of the cutting deck.

In view of the above, there is a need to improve a lifting device of theexisting mower to solve the above problems.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Present invention provides a cutting deck lifting device, the cuttingdeck lifting device can conveniently and quickly adjust a cutting deckbetween a first position and a second position; simultaneously, thecutting deck lifting device has a simple structure, a low manufacturingcost, and easy installation and can be applied to a variety of gardentools.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cuttingdeck lifting device for adjusting the height of the cutting deck of amower comprising a cutting deck having at least one cutting blademounted thereto, a pedal assembly including a pedal switched betweenlocking and unlocking states for adjusting the height of the cuttingdeck, a connecting assembly connecting the pedal assembly to the cuttingdeck and an adjusting assembly connected to the pedal assembly forpositioning the cutting deck to a position with a desired height whenthe pedal is switched between locking and unlocking states.

As a further improvement of the invention, the cutting deck is in afirst position when the pedal is in locking state, and wherein thecutting deck is in a second position when the pedal is in unlockingstate, and wherein the height of the cutting deck is adjusted when thecutting deck is in the second position.

As a further improvement of the invention, the cutting deck hasdifferent heights when in different second positions, and wherein theheight of the cutting deck is adjusted when the cutting deck is liftedbetween the first position and the second position, and wherein thecutting deck is lifted between the first position and the secondposition when the pedal is switched between the locking state and theunlocking state.

As a further improvement of the invention, the adjusting assemblyincludes a sliding plate rotatably connected to the pedal and apositioning member abutting against the sliding plate to position thecutting deck to the position with the desired height, and wherein thedesired height is determined when the pedal is in locking state.

As a further improvement of the invention, the sliding plate slides awayfrom the positioning member when the pedal is switched from theunlocking state to the locking state, and wherein the sliding plateslides towards the positioning member and abuts against the positioningmember when the pedal is switched from the locking state to theunlocking state.

As a further improvement of the invention, the sliding plate slides awayfrom the positioning member when the cutting deck is lifted from thesecond position to the first position, and wherein the sliding plateslides towards the positioning member and abuts against the positioningmember when the cutting deck is lifted from the first position to thesecond position.

As a further improvement of the invention, the adjusting assemblyincludes an adjusting plate corresponding to the sliding plate, andwherein the sliding plate slides forwardly along the adjusting plate toseparate from the positioning member, and wherein the sliding platedslides backwardly along the adjusting plate to abut against thepositioning member.

As a further improvement of the invention, the positioning member isdetachably connected to the adjusting plate, and wherein the adjustingplate has a plurality of adjusting holes for allowing the positioningmembered inserting thereinto.

As a further improvement of the invention, each adjusting hole isprovided with a limiting slot, and wherein the positioning member has alimiting protrusion corresponding to the limiting slot, and wherein thelimiting protrusion engages with the limiting slot for preventing therotating between the positioning member and the adjusting hole.

As a further improvement of the invention, the pedal assembly includes alocking mechanism corresponding to the pedal, and wherein the pedal islocked with the locking mechanism when in the locking state, and whereinthe pedal is unlocked with the locking mechanism when in unlockingstate.

As a further improvement of the invention, the pedal has a retainingportion, and wherein the locking mechanism has a locking protrusioncorresponding to the retaining portion, and wherein the retainingportion engages with the locking protrusion to lock the pedal assemblywith the locking mechanism when the pedal is in locking state, andwherein the retaining portion disengages with the locking protrusion tounlock the pedal assembly with the locking mechanism when the pedal isin unlocking state.

As a further improvement of the invention, the pedal includes a pedalbody and a bracket connecting the pedal body to the connecting assembly,and wherein the retaining portion is disposed on the pedal body.

As a further improvement of the invention, the pedal includes a rotatingshaft for rotatably connecting the pedal body to the bracket, andwherein the sliding plate is rotatably connected to the bracket, andwherein the pedal body and the sliding plate are located at two oppositeends of the bracket, and wherein the rotating shaft and the retainingportion are located at two opposite ends of the pedal body.

As a further improvement of the invention, the pedal assembly alsoincludes a resetting spring located between the pedal body and thebracket for returning the pedal body to an original position when theforce applied to the pedal body is withdrawn.

As a further improvement of the invention, the bracket has a limitingarm for abutting against the pedal body to limit the rotatable angle ofthe pedal body, and wherein the pedal body is rotatably mounted to thelimiting arm through the rotating shaft.

As a further improvement of the invention, the resetting spring issleeved on the rotating shaft, and wherein the limiting arm defines aguiding surface for allowing the pedal body to rotate along the axis ofthe rotating shaft.

As a further improvement of the invention, the connecting assemblyincludes a lateral rotating shaft and at least one connecting mechanismmounted on the lateral rotating shaft for fixedly connecting the cuttingdeck to the rotating shaft, and wherein the pedal is fixedly connectedto one end of the lateral rotating shaft through the bracket, andwherein the lateral rotating shaft is driven to rotate to lift thecutting deck in a vertical direction when the pedal is stepped to drivethe bracket to rotate.

As a further improvement of the invention, the connecting assembly isdriven to rotate to lift the cutting deck in a vertical direction whenthe pedal is stepped.

To achieve the above object, the present invention also provides a mowercomprising a base having wheels mounted thereto, a controlling deviceconnected to the base for controlling the movement of the mower, acutting deck connected to the base and having at least one cutting blademounted thereto and a cutting deck lifting device coupled to the basefor adjusting a height of the cutting deck including a pedal assemblyhaving a pedal switched between locking and unlocking states foradjusting the height of the cutting deck, a connecting assemblyconnecting the pedal assembly to the cutting deck and an adjustingassembly connected to the pedal assembly for positioning the cuttingdeck to a position with a desired height when the pedal is switchedbetween locking and unlocking states.

To achieve the above object, the present invention also provides a mowercomprising a base having wheels mounted thereto, a controlling deviceconnected to the base for controlling the movement of the mower, acutting deck connected to the base and having at least one cutting blademounted thereto and a cutting deck lifting device for adjusting a heightof the cutting deck including a pedal assembly having a pedal mounted tothe base and being switched between locking and unlocking states, aconnecting assembly connecting the pedal assembly to the cutting deckand driven to rotate to lift the cutting deck in a vertical directionwhen the pedal is stepped between the locking and unlocking states, andan adjusting assembly connecting the pedal assembly to the base forpositioning the cutting deck to a position with a desired height afterthe cutting deck is lifted.

The above general description and the following detailed description areintended to be illustrative and not restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a cutting deck lifting device ofa mower in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cutting deck lifting device shown inFIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the cutting deck lifting device ofFIG. 2 .

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of an adjusting assembly of the cutting decklifting device shown in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 5 a to FIG. 5 e are schematic view illustrating a pedal assemblyengaging with a locking mechanism shown in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a cutting deck lifting device connectedto a cutting deck in accordance with another embodiment of presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a mower in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention, showing the cutting deck isconnected to the mower through the lifting device shown in FIG. 6 .

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT

The exemplary embodiment will be described in detail herein, and theembodiment is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When thefollowing description refers to the drawings, unless otherwiseindicated, the same numbers in different drawings indicate the same orsimilar elements. The embodiment described in the following exemplaryembodiment does not represent all embodiments consistent with presentinvention. On the contrary, they are only examples of devices, systems,machines and methods consistent with some aspects of the invention asdetailed in the appended claims.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a cutting deck lifting device 100 used for a mower300 according to present invention has a pedal assembly 1, a cuttingdeck 200, a connecting assembly 2 for connecting the pedal assembly 1 tothe cutting deck 200 and an adjusting assembly 3 connected to the pedalassembly 1 for adjusting the height of the cutting deck 200.

Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 , the pedal assembly 1 includes a pedal 11and a locking mechanism 12 mounted to the mower 300 for engaging withthe pedal 11 to lock the pedal 11 in a locking position. The pedal 11has a pedal body 111 and a bracket 112 connecting the pedal body 111 tothe connecting assembly 2. The pedal body 111 is rotatably mounted to anend of the bracket 112 through a rotating shaft 113. The pedal 111 has aretaining portion 114 corresponding to the locking mechanism 12. Theretaining portion 114 is located at one end of the pedal body 111. Therotating shaft 113 and the retaining portion 114 are respectivelylocated at two opposite ends of the pedal body 111. The retainingportion 114 is separated from the pedal body 111 and the pedal body 111has a groove 1111 corresponding to the retaining portion 114. The groove111 is formed by inwardly recessing the edge of the pedal body 111. Inother embodiment, the retaining portion 114 is integrally formed withthe pedal body 111 when the pedal 11 is stably locked with the lockingmechanism 12.

The bracket 112 has a limiting arm 115 for limiting the rotatable angleof the pedal body 111. The pedal body 111 is rotatably mounted to oneend of the limiting arm 115 through the rotating shaft 113 and abutsagainst the limiting arm 115 when depressed forwardly by the operator.The limiting arm 115 has an inclined guiding surface 1151 located at oneend thereof for allowing the pedal body 111 to rotate along the axis ofthe rotating shaft 113. A resetting spring 116 is sleeved on therotating shaft 13 and mounted between the pedal body 111 and thelimiting arm 115 of the bracket 112 for returning the pedal body 111 tothe original position when the pedal body 111 is not depressed.

An angle α is formed between an extending direction of the limiting arm115 and the inclined guiding surface 1151. The angle α is the maximumrotatable angle of the pedal body 11 when being depressed to rotatearound the rotating shaft 113. The bottom of the pedal body 11 abutsagainst the inclined guiding surface 1151 when the pedal body 11 rotatesthe angle α. In some embodiments of present invention, the angle α iswithin a range between 0 and 90°. In some embodiments of the presentinvention, the angle α is within a range between 0 and 80°. In someembodiments of the present invention, the angle α is within a rangebetween 0 and 70°. In some embodiments of the present invention, theangle α is within a range between 0 and 60°. In some embodiments of thepresent invention, the angle α is within a range between 0 and 50°. Insome embodiments of the present invention, the angle α is within a rangebetween 0 and 40°. In some embodiments of the present invention, theangle α is within a range between 0 and 30°. In some embodiments of thepresent invention, the angle α is within a range between 0 and 20°. Insome embodiments of the present invention, the angle α is 12°. In someembodiments of the present invention, the angle α is within a rangebetween 0 and 10°.

The locking mechanism 12 has a mounting portion 121 and an extendingportion 122 extending upwardly from the mounting portion 121. Theextending portion 122 is provided with a locking protrusion 123corresponding to the retaining portion 114. When the pedal 11 is locatedat the locking position, the locking protrusion 123 passes through thegroove 1111 and engages with the retaining portion 114 to prevent thepedal 11 from rotating backwardly, so as to limit the position of thepedal 11.

The cutting deck 200 is connected with the pedal assembly 1 through theconnecting assembly 2. The cutting deck 200 is lifted by the pedalassembly 1 through connecting assembly 2. Specifically, the cutting deck200 is in a first position when the pedal 11 is locked in the lockposition by the lock mechanism 12, and the cutting deck 200 is in asecond position when the pedal 11 is separated from the lockingmechanism 12. The pedal 11 can lift the cutting deck 200 in a verticaldirection between the first position and the second position through theconnecting assembly 2.

In present invention, the connecting assembly 2 includes a lateralrotating shaft 21 and two connecting mechanisms 22 connected to two endsof the lateral rotating shaft 21. The pedal 11 is fixedly connected toone end of the lateral rotating shaft 21 through the bracket 112. Thelateral rotating shaft 21 is driven to rotate by the pedal 11 when thepedal 11 is depressed by the operator, and the connecting mechanisms 22are driven to move upwardly in the vertical direction by the lateralrotating shaft 21.

Furthermore, each connecting mechanism 22 has a fixing portion 221 forfixedly connecting the connecting mechanism 22 to the lateral rotatingshaft 21 and a connecting rod 222 rotatably connected to the fixingportion 221. In a preferred embodiment of present invention, the fixingportion 221 is a pair of U-shaped clamping plates. The connecting rod222 has one end rotatably sandwiched between the clamping plates by aconnecting shaft 223 and the other end connected to the cutting deck200. The connecting rod 222 can be easy to replace due to beingsandwiched between the clamping plates 221. The cutting deck 200 isdriven to lift through the fixing portion 221 driving the connecting rod222 to lift when the lateral rotating shaft 21 rotates.

Of course, in other embodiments of present invention, the fixing portion221 may also be another structure for connecting the connecting rod 222with the lateral rotating shaft 21, the connecting rod 222 may also bereplaced by another structure for connecting the fixing portion 221 withthe cutting deck 200, when the stable connection between the connectingrod 222 and the connecting shaft 223 and the stable connection thefixing portion 221 and the cutting deck 200 are ensured.

Referring to FIG. 1, 2 and FIG. 4 , the cutting deck lifting device 100further has an adjusting assembly 3 connected to the pedal assembly 1.The adjusting assembly 3 configured to adjust the height of the secondposition of the cutting deck 200 comprises a sliding plate 31 rotatablyconnected to the bracket 112, an adjusting plate 32 corresponding to thesliding plate 31 and a positioning member 33 detachably connected to theadjusting plate 32. In present invention, the sliding plate 31 has onefixed end (not labeled) rotatably connected to the bracket 112 by aretaining shaft 310 and a free end (not labeled) opposite to the fixedend (not labeled). The sliding plate 31 has an engaging portion 311located at the free end thereof. The engaging portion 311 iscorresponding to the positioning member 33. The adjusting plate 32 hasan upper side parallel with the sliding plate 31 and a positioning plate321 for fixedly mounting the adjusting plate 32 to the base of themower. The sliding plate 31 can slide back and forth in a horizontalplane relative to the adjusting plate 32 when being driven by the pedalassembly 1. The positioning member 33 is detachably connected to theadjusting plate 32 for locking the sliding plate 31 in a desiredposition when the retaining portion 114 is unlocked with the lockingprotrusion 123 of the locking mechanism 12.

Furthermore, the adjusting plate 32 is provided with a plurality ofadjusting holes 322 arranged in columns. The engaging portion 311 canabut against the positioning member 33 to limit the relative positionbetween the sliding plate 31 and the adjusting plate 32 when thepositioning member 33 is inserted into the adjusting holes 322, so as tolimit the height of the second position of the cutting deck 200. Thecutting deck 200 drives the fixing portion 221 move upwardly in avertical direction and drives the lateral rotating shaft 21 to rotatewhen the working terrain is uneven and the cutting deck 200 is bumped upby the ground or other objects. The lateral rotating shaft 21 furtherdrives the bracket 112 moves forwardly, therefore the sliding plate 31slides forwardly and away from the positioning member 33. The engagingportion 311 of the sliding plate 31 re-engages with the positioningmember 33 to retain the height of the second position of the cuttingdeck 200 when the cutting deck 200 is in free state. The collisionbetween the cutting deck 200 and the ground or other objects can beeffectively prevented and the service life of the cutting deck 200 canbe improved.

Preferably, each adjusting hole 322 is provided with a limiting slot323, and the positioning member 33 is provided with a limitingprotrusion 331 at the bottom thereof and corresponding to the limitingslot 323. The limiting protrusion 331 can prevent the positioning member33 and the adjusting hole 322 from rotating relatively, so as to improvethe stable engagement between the engaging portion 311 and the positionmember 33. Furthermore, a scale is marked beside each adjusting hole 322to denote the height of the second position of the cutting deck 200(i.e. the working height of the cutting deck 200), which is convenientfor the operator to select and adjust the height of the second positionof the cutting deck 200.

In a preferred embodiment of present invention, two adjusting plates 32are parallelly arranged in a vertical direction. The sliding plate 31 isslidably sandwiched between two adjusting plates 32. The adjusting holes322 on each adjusting plate 32 are configured in a plurality of columnsin front and rear direction and paralleled to each other in differentcolumns. Each column contains different number of adjusting holes 322.In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the number of theadjusting holes 322 in each column is progressively decreased,furthermore, the adjusting holes 322 on the two adjusting plates 32 arearranged correspondingly to each other in a vertical direction. In thisembodiment, the sliding plate 31 is sandwiched between the two adjustingplates 32 and abuts against the positioning member 33 which passedthrough two adjusting plates 32 simultaneously. Furthermore, theengaging portion 311 is configured as a step shape and has a pluralityof step surfaces 312. The number of the step surfaces 312 corresponds tothe number of the columns of adjusting holes 322, so as to effectivelyprevent the positioning member 33 from being deformed when the slidingplate 31 abutting against the positioning member 33 and improve the usesafety of the cutting deck lifting device 100. Meanwhile, more optionscan be provided for the operator to adjust the height of the cuttingdeck 200 when the stable connection between the sliding plate 31 and thepositioning member 33.

In particular, the adjusting assembly 3 further comprises a connectingrope 34, and the positioning member 33 is connected to the adjustingassembly 3 by the connecting rope 34. The positioning member 33 can beprevented falling off or losing from the adjusting assembly 3 by theconnecting rope 34, so that the practicability of the cutting decklifting device 100 is improved.

Referring to FIGS. 5 a to 5 e , when the cutting deck lifting device 100of the present invention is installed, the retaining portion 114 of thepedal body 111 is unlocked with the locking protrusion 123 of thelocking mechanism 12. Firstly, stepping the front end of the pedal body111 to drive the pedal body 111 to rotate the angle α around therotating shaft 113, so as to form a space (not labeled) between thepedal body 111 and the bracket 112 for allowing the locking protrusion123 of the locking mechanism 12 passing through (referring to FIGS. 5 ato 5 b ). Secondly stepping the front end of the pedal body 111 to drivethe bracket 112 to rotate around the lateral rotating shaft 21(referring to FIG. 5 c ) until the pedal body 111 transiting the lockingprotrusion 123 of the locking mechanism 12. Thirdly, stepping the rearend of the pedal body 111 to drive the pedal body 111 to rotate back tothe initial position of the pedal body 111 under the force of theresetting spring 116 (referring to FIG. 5 d ). Finally, decreasing theforce applied to the pedal body 111 to make the pedal 11 rotatereversely around the lateral rotating shaft 21 under the gravity of thecutting deck 200 and lock the pedal 11 at the locking position(referring to FIG. 5 e ) through the locking protrusion 123 of thelocking mechanism 12 passing through the groove 1111 of the pedal body111 and engaging with the retaining portion 114 of the pedal 11. Thepedal 11 abuts against the limiting arm 115 when the pedal 11 is in alocking position. Therefore, the cutting deck 200 is retained in thefirst position (i.e., a maximum working height position). And thesliding plate 31 is located at a farthest position relative to theadjusting plate 32 and does not engage with the positioning member 33.The mower can be transported in this configuration.

When the work height of the cutting deck 200 of the mower (the height ofthe second position of the cutting deck 200) need to be adjusted duringoperation, firstly inserting the positioning member 33 intocorresponding adjusting hole 322 of the adjusting plate 32. Secondly,downwardly stepping the rear end of the pedal body 111 to rotate anangle around the lateral rotating shaft 21, so as to separate theretaining portion 114 of the pedal 11 from the locking protrusion 123 ofthe locking mechanism 12. The sliding plate 31 is driven to moveforwardly when the pedal body 111 is stepped. Thirdly, steppingdownwardly the front end of the pedal body 111 to drive the pedal body111 to rotate the angle α around the rotating shaft 113, so as to form aspace (not labeled) between the pedal body 111 and the bracket 112 forallowing the locking protrusion 123 of the locking mechanism 12 passingthrough. Finally, decreasing the force applied to the pedal 11 to makethe pedal 11 rotate reversely around the lateral rotating shaft 21 underthe gravity of the cutting deck 200 until the retaining portion 114 ofthe pedal 11 transiting the locking protrusion 123 of the lockingmechanism 12, so as to drive the sliding plate 31 to slide backwardlyalong two adjusting plates 32 until the engaging portion 311 of thesliding plate 31 abuts against the positioning member 33. Therefore, thecutting deck 200 is positioned in a second position with a desiredheight. The cutting deck 200 is adjusted from the first position to thesecond position.

The height of the cutting deck 200 when the cutting deck 200 is in thesecond position can be adjusted through repeating the steps describedabove. The height of the cutting deck 200 can be adjusted between thefirst position and the second position through the engagement betweenthe pedal 11 and the locking mechanism 12 and the engagement among thesliding plate 31, the adjusting plate 32 and the positioning member 33of the adjusting assembly 3.

In present invention, the cutting deck lifting device 100 furthercomprises a plurality of assisting component 4 connected to the lateralrotating shaft 21. The assisting component 4 and the pedal 11 arerespectively arranged at two sides of the lateral rotating shaft 21 in afront-rear direction. The assisting component 4 is in a stretching statefor assisting the pedal 11 to drive the lateral rotating shaft 21 torotate when the pedal 11 is stepped. Therefore, the cutting deck 200 isconveniently adjusted between the first position and the second positionby the pedal assembly 1. In some embodiment of the present invention,the assisting component 4 is a spring.

It should be noted that, in the above description, the cutting decklifting device 100 is provided with one pedal assembly 1, one connectingassembly 2 and one adjusting assembly 3 as an example for illustration.In other embodiment, the cutting deck lifting device 100 may be providedwith two connecting assemblies 2 and two adjacent connecting assemblies2 are connected to each other through an arc-shaped connecting rod 5.

Specifically, when the cutting deck lifting device 100 is provided withtwo connecting assemblies 2, the connecting assemblies 2 includes afirst connecting assembly 2′ and a second connecting assembly 2″respectively located at two opposite sides of the cutting deck 200 in aworking direction. The first connecting assembly 2′ and the secondconnecting assembly 2″ are arranged in parallel. The pedal assembly 1and the adjusting assembly 3 are connected to the first connectingassembly 2′ and located at the same side of a lateral rotating shaft 21′of the first connecting assembly 2′ (referring to FIG. 6 ).

Furthermore, one end of the arc-shaped connecting rod 5 is connected tothe first connecting assembly 2′ or the pedal assembly 1, and the otherend of the connecting rod 5 is connected to the second connectingassembly 2″. Preferably, one end of the arc-shaped connecting rod 5 isconnected to the bracket 112, and the other end of the connecting rod 5is connected to the lateral rotating shaft 21″ of the second connectingassembly 2″. The bracket 112 is rotated to drive the lateral rotatingshaft 21′ to rotate and simultaneously drives the arc-shaped connectingrod 5 to move forwardly when the pedal body 111 is stepped, so as todrive the lateral rotating shaft 21″ of the second connecting assembly2″ to rotate. Therefore, the cutting deck 200 connected to the firstconnecting assembly 2′ and the second connecting assembly 2″ can belifted up and down in the vertical direction and the height of thecutting deck 200 in the second position is also adjustable.

Furthermore, one end of the assisting component 4 in this embodiment isconnected to the lateral rotating shaft 21″ of the second connectingassembly 2″ and the other end of the assisting component 4 is connectedto the base of the mower. Preferably, the assisting components 4 arearranged in pairs and symmetrically disposed at two sides of the lateralrotating shaft 21″ to ensure that the lateral rotating shaft 21″ isuniformly stressed and prevent the lateral rotating shaft 21″ from beingbroken due to uneven stress. The assisting components 4 assist the pedal11 to drive the lateral rotating shafts 21′, 21″ to rotate when theheight of the cutting deck 200 is desired to be adjusted by theoperator.

Referring to FIG. 7 , a mower 300 according to present invention isshown. The mower 300 comprises a base 301 operably coupled to wheelthereof, a controlling device 302 connected to the base 301 forcontrolling the movement thereof, a cutting deck 200 connected to thebase 301 for mounting at least one cutting blade and the cutting decklifting device 100 for adjusting the height of the cutting deck 200between the first position and the second position.

Specifically, the locking mechanism 12 is fixedly mounted to the rightfront region of the base 301 through the mounting portion 121. Theadjusting plate 32 is fixedly mounted on the right of the base 301through the positioning plate 321. The adjusting plate 32 is located ata portion where is easily operated by operator's hand. The pedalassembly 1 is located at the right front region of the base 301 where iseasily operated by operator's foot. The locking mechanism 12 isstaggered with the adjusting plate 32 when the cutting deck liftingdevice 100 is installed on the mower 300. The pedal body 111 protrudesfrom a bottom of the base 301 through the bracket 112 and is located ina front of the mower 300, so as to make the sliding plate 31 connectedto the bracket 112 overlap on the adjusting plate 32. The operator canconveniently step the pedal 11 and adjust the height of the cutting deck100 through inserting the positioning member 33 into correspondingadjusting holes 322 when the cutting deck is in a second position.

Preferably, the cutting deck lifting device 100 of the presentembodiment comprises a first connecting assembly 2′ and a secondconnecting assembly 2″ arranged along a direction vertical to afront-rear direction of the mower 300, and a pair of assistingcomponents 4 (as shown in FIG. 6 ). One end of the assisting component 4is detachably connected to the lateral rotating shaft 21″, the other endof the assisting component 4 is detachably connected to the base 301, sothat the assisting component 4 can be changed according to the size andthe weight of cutting deck 200 by the operator. Therefore, thepracticality of mower 300 is effectively improved.

It should be noted that, in present invention, the mower 300 is a ridingon mower, and the cutting deck 200 is a cutting deck for illustration,but in other embodiments of present invention, the types of the mower300 and the cutting deck 200 can be selectively changed according toactual situations, i.e., the specific types of the mower 300 and thecutting deck 200 are not limited herein.

In summary, the cutting deck lifting device 100 can lift the cuttingdeck 200 upwardly and downwardly to adjust the height of the cuttingdeck 200 through the positioning member 33 being inserted into differentadjusting holes 322 and the sliding plate 31 being driven by the pedal11 to abut against the positioning member 33. Therefore, the cuttingdeck 200 can move upwardly freely and is prevented from rigid collisionwith the ground or other objects.

The above embodiment is only used to illustrate present invention andnot to limits the technical solutions described in present invention.The understanding of this specification should be based on those skilledin the art, although present invention has been described in detail withreference to the above embodiment. However, those skilled in the artshould understand that those skilled in the art can still modify orequivalently replace present invention, and all technical solutions andimprovements that do not depart from the spirit and scope of presentinvention should be within the scope of the claims of the invention.

We claim:
 1. A cutting deck lifting device for adjusting a height of a cutting deck of a mower, comprising: a cutting deck; a pedal assembly including a pedal switched between locking and unlocking states for adjusting the height of the cutting deck; a connecting assembly connecting the pedal assembly to the cutting deck; and an adjusting assembly connected to the pedal assembly for positioning the cutting deck to a position with a desired height when the pedal is switched between locking and unlocking states; wherein the adjusting assembly includes a sliding plate having a fixed end rotatably connected to the pedal and a free end opposite to the fixed end, the sliding plate having an engaging portion located at the free end thereof, and the engaging portion being configured as a step shape and having a plurality of step surfaces; wherein the cutting deck is in a first position when the pedal is in the locking state, and wherein the cutting deck is in a second position when the pedal is in the unlocking state, and wherein the height of the cutting deck is adjusted when the cutting deck is in the second position; and wherein the adjusting assembly includes a positioning member abutting against the sliding plate to position the cutting deck to the position with the desired height, and wherein the desired height is determined when the pedal is in the locking state.
 2. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 1, wherein the cutting deck has different heights when in different second positions, and wherein the height of the cutting deck is adjusted when the cutting deck is lifted between the first position and the second position, and wherein the cutting deck is lifted between the first position and the second position when the pedal is switched between the locking state and the unlocking state.
 3. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 1, wherein the sliding plate slides away from the positioning member when the pedal is switched from the unlocking state to the locking state, and wherein the sliding plate slides towards the positioning member and abuts against the positioning member when the pedal is switched from the locking state to the unlocking state.
 4. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 1, wherein the sliding plate slides away from the positioning member when the cutting deck is lifted from the second position to the first position, and wherein the sliding plate slides towards the positioning member and abuts against the positioning member when the cutting deck is lifted from the first position to the second position.
 5. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 3, wherein the adjusting assembly includes an adjusting plate corresponding to the sliding plate, and wherein the sliding plate slides forwardly along the adjusting plate to separate from the positioning member, and wherein the sliding plate slides backwardly along the adjusting plate to abut against the positioning member.
 6. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 5, wherein the positioning member is detachably connected to the adjusting plate, and wherein the adjusting plate has a plurality of adjusting holes for allowing the positioning member to be inserted thereinto; the plurality of adjusting holes are configured in a plurality of columns in front and rear direction and paralleled to each other in different columns each containing different number of adjusting holes, the number of the adjusting holes in each column is progressively decreased, and the number of the step surfaces corresponds to the number of the columns of adjusting holes.
 7. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 6, wherein each adjusting hole is provided with a limiting slot, and wherein the positioning member has a limiting protrusion corresponding to the limiting slot, and wherein the limiting protrusion engages with the limiting slot for preventing the rotating between the positioning member and the adjusting hole.
 8. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 5, wherein the pedal assembly includes a locking mechanism corresponding to the pedal, and wherein the pedal is locked with the locking mechanism when in the locking state, and wherein the pedal is unlocked with the locking mechanism when in the unlocking state.
 9. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 8, wherein the pedal has a retaining portion, and wherein the locking mechanism has a locking protrusion corresponding to the retaining portion, and wherein the retaining portion engages with the locking protrusion to lock the pedal assembly with the locking mechanism when the pedal is in the locking state, and wherein the retaining portion disengages with the locking protrusion to unlock the pedal assembly with the locking mechanism when the pedal is in the unlocking state.
 10. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 9, wherein the pedal includes a pedal body and a bracket connecting the pedal body to the connecting assembly, and wherein the retaining portion is disposed on the pedal body.
 11. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 10, wherein the pedal includes a rotating shaft for rotatably connecting the pedal body to the bracket, and wherein the sliding plate is rotatably connected to the bracket, and wherein the pedal body and the sliding plate are located at two opposite ends of the bracket, and wherein the rotating shaft and the retaining portion are located at two opposite ends of the pedal body.
 12. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 11, wherein the pedal assembly also includes a resetting spring located between the pedal body and the bracket for returning the pedal body to an original position when a force applied to the pedal body is withdrawn.
 13. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 12, wherein the bracket has a limiting arm for abutting against the pedal body to limit a rotatable angle of the pedal body, and wherein the pedal body is rotatably mounted to the limiting arm through the rotating shaft.
 14. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 13, wherein the resetting spring is sleeved on the rotating shaft, and wherein the limiting arm defines a guiding surface for allowing the pedal body to rotate along the axis of the rotating shaft.
 15. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 10, wherein the connecting assembly includes a lateral rotating shaft and at least one connecting mechanism mounted on the lateral rotating shaft for fixedly connecting the cutting deck to the rotating shaft, and wherein the pedal is fixedly connected to one end of the lateral rotating shaft through the bracket, and wherein the lateral rotating shaft is driven to rotate to lift the cutting deck in a vertical direction when the pedal is stepped to drive the bracket to rotate.
 16. The cutting deck lifting device according to claim 1, wherein the connecting assembly is driven to rotate to lift the cutting deck in a vertical direction when the pedal is stepped.
 17. A mower, comprising: a base having wheels mounted thereto; a controlling device connected to the base for controlling the movement of the mower; a cutting deck connected to the base; and a cutting deck lifting device coupled to the base for adjusting a height of the cutting deck, including: a pedal assembly having a pedal switched between locking and unlocking states for adjusting the height of the cutting deck; a connecting assembly connecting the pedal assembly to the cutting deck, and an adjusting assembly connected to the pedal assembly for positioning the cutting deck to a position with a desired height when the pedal is switched between locking and unlocking states; wherein the adjusting assembly includes a sliding plate having a fixed end rotatably connected to the pedal and a free end opposite to the fixed end, the sliding plate having an engaging portion located at the free end thereof, and the engaging portion being configured as a step shape and having a plurality of step surfaces; wherein the cutting deck is in a first position when the pedal is in the locking state, and wherein the cutting deck is in a second position when the pedal is in the unlocking state, and wherein the height of the cutting deck is adjusted when the cutting deck is in the second position; and wherein the adjusting assembly includes a positioning member abutting against the sliding plate to position the cutting deck to the position with the desired height, and wherein the desired height is determined when the pedal is in the locking state.
 18. A mower, comprising: a base having wheels mounted thereto; a controlling device connected to the base for controlling the movement of the mower; a cutting deck connected to the base; and a cutting deck lifting device for adjusting a height of the cutting deck, including: a pedal assembly having a pedal mounted to the base and being switched between locking and unlocking states; a connecting assembly connecting the pedal assembly to the cutting deck and driven to rotate to lift the cutting deck in a vertical direction when the pedal is stepped between the locking and unlocking states; and an adjusting assembly connecting the pedal assembly to the base for positioning the cutting deck to a position with a desired height after the cutting deck is lifted; wherein the adjusting assembly includes a sliding plate having a fixed end rotatably connected to the pedal and a free end opposite to the fixed end, the sliding plate having an engaging portion located at the free end thereof, and the engaging portion being configured as a step shape and having a plurality of step surfaces; wherein the cutting deck is in a first position when the pedal is in the locking state, and wherein the cutting deck is in a second position when the pedal is in the unlocking state, and wherein the height of the cutting deck is adjusted when the cutting deck is in the second position; and wherein the adjusting assembly includes a positioning member abutting against the sliding plate to position the cutting deck to the position with the desired height, and wherein the desired height is determined when the pedal is in the locking state. 